when you think about it its ridiculous that we should be forced to pay a tax predicated on the fact that if you dont pay it the state will take your home and sell it off "at the courthouse square." imagine that. its a system prime for abuse and fraud because the good ol boys can simply set your tax so high that you are taxed right out of existence, the united states fourth supreme court chief justice john marshall warned of this when he said that "the power to tax is the power to destroy." of course they always have someone waiting behind the scenes to swoop in and buy your home and property for a song.

instead we subscribe to carl gunter's view of property taxation here in louisiana. carl told us that he believed that everyones home regardless of price should be exempt from property taxes carl said that if you owned other property then that should be subject to property taxes. you people that voted against carl back in 1991 really messed up. but carl is in heaven today looking out for those of us that supported him and those who didnt.

we came by this bill by way of professor sadow's louisiana legislature log. we have to add that we are a bit taken aback by the good (he holds himself out to be a conservative) professor's listing this bill in his "bad bill" column. here's how sadow dismisses this important piece of legislation:

THE BAD: HB 644 by Rep. John Alario increases the homestead exemption to $150,000, further undermining local government finance.

anyway, enough of that - please contact your state representive and senator and ask them to support and vote for representive alario's House Bill 644.